Waynesboro teachers, board discuss contract

Members of the Waynesboro Area School Board and Waynesboro Area Education Association met for four hours Monday as they continue to hash out terms for a new two- or three-year contract.

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By Stephanie Harbaugh/The Record Herald

Waynesboro Record Herald - Waynesboro, PA

By Stephanie Harbaugh/The Record Herald

Posted Feb. 12, 2013 at 11:30 AM

By Stephanie Harbaugh/The Record Herald

Posted Feb. 12, 2013 at 11:30 AM

WAYNESBORO — Back to the bargaining table.

Members of the Waynesboro Area School Board and Waynesboro Area Education Association met for four hours Monday as they continue to hash out terms for a new two- or three-year contract.

The next bargaining session is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 18.

“WAEA is hopeful that a solution will be met before the end of this contract,” Angie Cales, WAEA president and chief negotiator wrote in an email Monday.

“I believe it is entirely possible that we can settle prior to June 30,” said Rita Daywalt, a member of the Waynesboro Area School Board who serves on the negotiating team. “We’re not immensely far apart.”

The current three-year contract which encompasses 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 is slated to expire this year on June 30.

The district and teachers negotiated for 30 months and in mid-June 2012 settled on the terms of the current contract that includes no pay raise for 2010-11 and 2011-12, a 2.25 percent raise for 2012-13, zero employee contributions to health insurance premiums and higher health care deductibles of $1,200 for a single employee and $2,400 for a family.

Bargaining

On Monday “proposals were exchanged and discussed,” according to Cales. Details of the proposals have not been released.

Salary and benefits were the two main stumbling block towards a compromise during the last 30-month impasse. During that time, teachers authorized a strike twice, but never acted on the authorization.